Some great youngsters there I'm looking forward to watching more. Jordy clasie being the main attraction

I think you should Ram, and become NSNO's Dutch correspondent. Rumours that Si and Bally will pay for a couple of trips to the Dam as well, if you take up the role. Lot of exciting kids always coming through there as you say. Would definitely like to see some live football in Holland, if and when I get the chance to go back, but don't get to see any as it stands really apart from their CL and EL teams in Europe.

Nowhere near enough. The day I see Sociedad or Villareal lining up 3-7-0 I'll start watching! And what can I say? Italian men have better hair and beards than Spaniards. Plus, I'm a sucker for a guy in Italian loafers

Nah in all seriousness what I like about La Liga is how the vast majority of teams, if not all, actually play football. Less of that West Ham, Norwich City play-the-percentages shite. What puts me off - and I hate to be that guy - is the gamesmanship; but I think my view on this has been tainted by mainly watching El Clasicos.

Serie A is fairly accessible with a lot being on BT. I don't have BT at home but the fact it's on there means there's always a good stream available.

I think the only challenger this year will be Roma. While it's true Allegri is not Conte he is a good manager and, with the exception of Roma, Juventus have been so far ahead of the rest of the division these last few years that they could afford to drop fairly significantly and still be there or thereabouts. If Roma can replicate last season and Juve falter then an upset could be on the cards. I can't see anyone else challenging.

No it's fair what you say about La Liga, and the playacting runs through the whole league really, there's no denying that. Sky's coverage is very Real/Barca centric, so you only get to see the other teams as an afterthought. On the other hand, last season almost all Atletico games were also shown, and you do get to see a fair bit of Valencia, Bilbao and Sevilla as well, which is good. Most teams in the division have brilliant little technical players, and as you suggest, all the teams are very technical and ability focussed.

Most exciting/interesting transfers in Serie A this year then?

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Jeff: That's not the way to win.Kathie: Is there a way to win?Jeff: There's a way to lose more slowly.

Maybe Morata as it's debatable whether he's actually good or not, and he's gone for a big fee. M'Vila has finally got a move to a big club so it will be interesting to see if he delivers on his potential. And probably Ashley Cole as it's highly atypical. I'm interested to see if Cerci moves to one of the bigger clubs.

It sounds boring but perhaps the most important transfers are those which haven't happened. Vidal and Caudrado having been heavily linked with moves away look likely to stay. Holding on to your biggest and best players is a sign of strength for any league.

Possible (and welcome) changes to how the money is distributed in La Liga.

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Spanish clubs have moved closer to adopting a similar television rights model as the Premier League, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu tells The Times.

At present, La Liga sides negotiate their own TV deals, unlike the collective approach undertaken by the Premier League which sees TV revenue distributed more evenly."Barcelona and Madrid sell individually and we negotiate with a lot of success," says Bartomeu. "That helps us to have as many of the best players in the world as possible. But we know the problem: the Premier League is very competitive."

Guardiola says Bayern will sign a replacement for Javi Martinez, who is injured until the new year.

Did anyone see the Germany Supercup? Guardiola lined up 3-4-3 with half of his team out of position. His tinkering is frankly ridiculous and the more he does it the more I think it's self-consciously intended to cultivate an air of tactical genius, and it regularly backfires.

The worst example was Alaba - who has all the attributes of the perfect full back, and none of the attributes to play at centreback - who was played on the left of the back three to accommodate new signing Juan Bernat as a left wing back. Silly.

Guardiola says Bayern will sign a replacement for Javi Martinez, who is injured until the new year.

Did anyone see the Germany Supercup? Guardiola lined up 3-4-3 with half of his team out of position. His tinkering is frankly ridiculous and the more he does it the more I think it's self-consciously intended to cultivate an air of tactical genius, and it regularly backfires.

The worst example was Alaba - who has all the attributes of the perfect full back, and none of the attributes to play at centreback - who was played on the left of the back three to accommodate new signing Juan Bernat as a left wing back. Silly.

Thankfully, the Bundesliga proper starts next weekend.

Yeah I watched that match. You've got to love the intensity that the game was played at (perhaps more by Borussia Dortmund than Bayern Munich) compared to that of the Community Shield. Mind you, it was at Dortmund's ground which probably added to the spice of the game.

As you say they were absolute mess. Borussia Dortmund, unsurprisingly were pressing high up the pitch and the Bayern defence couldn't cope with it, meaning all Dortmund had to do was punish the mistakes and it was a surprise they only scored 2 goals in the end. Most of the match seemed to be played in Bayern's half.

Not that you can take a whole lot from it. There were still a few players missing from Bayern (and Dortmund) and I think Dortmund won the super cup 4-2 the previous season without it making much difference.

Yeah I watched that match. You've got to love the intensity that the game was played at (perhaps more by Borussia Dortmund than Bayern Munich) compared to that of the Community Shield. Mind you, it was at Dortmund's ground which probably added to the spice of the game.

As you say they were absolute mess. Borussia Dortmund, unsurprisingly were pressing high up the pitch and the Bayern defence couldn't cope with it, meaning all Dortmund had to do was punish the mistakes and it was a surprise they only scored 2 goals in the end. Most of the match seemed to be played in Bayern's half.

Not that you can take a whole lot from it. There were still a few players missing from Bayern (and Dortmund) and I think Dortmund won the super cup 4-2 the previous season without it making much difference.

It seemed to me that Bayern lined up how they did in an attempt to beat Dortmund's press and play round it. It was apparent they were completely failing to do so but Guardiola never changed it. He's such a fundamentalist. It looks to me like Bayern aren't anywhere near as good as his Barca team were at playing football from the goalkeeper and CBs.

I like Dortmund a lot largely because they seem to be the only team willing to play against Bayern like that. The games between them are always close. If Dortmund can keep everyone fit this season there's no reason why they can't challenge.